In search of salvation
by Endearth
Summary: Story i wrote long ago...need some comments! Of course, I didn't know how to write as well as I do back then.
1. Chapter 1

_In Search of Salvation_

_ _

By Gordon Sexton

This is a piece of fan fiction. The following characters belong to Blizzard Entertainment, and the author is in NO way (al though he wishes) associated with Blizzard Entertainment. All of the following text belongs to the author, you may not in anyway copy it and use it elsewhere. The assbuddy, ragemaster, and Jean Cretien will come after you if you do.

The night sky was a howling dark blue, and the moon filled the lush Kurast forests with comfort. It was a great night, and a group of fallen had just set camp near the Kurast docks, awaiting for further orders.

The fallen hunters had returned with their dinner, and the campfire was prepared. A lesser fallen had roasted a piece of chicken for the Leader Shaman, and handed it to him with a smile.

"Thank you Chu'Ka, you are most kind. I will remember to promote you," the leader accepted it with a satisfied grin. Just after he took the first bite, a silver knife had pierced through the wind and landed on his throat, catching the meat just before it went down. The panicking creatures turned their heads, and saw the moonlight that reflected of the shields.

"In the name of the light, we shall destroy you!" the leading paladin called out loudly with pride. More knives were volleyed and the band of zealous paladins unsheathed their swords and prepared for a night of slaughter.

With their weapons packed away, the fallen stood no chance. All they could do was watch each other die hopelessly.

"No, no, noooooo!!!" cried the lesser fallen, and a second later he was decapitated. And the rest of the night was filled with the pleading of hopeless fallen, and sounds of swords hammering into evil flesh.

Chapter 1- A New Adventure

Skovos looked up at the bright sun. He was lost in the deep jungles of Kurast, and hadn't seen his fellow paladins in a long time. He wasn't afraid, but was a little worried since he knew these jungles were filled with the minions of evil. It was dangerous to travel alone.

"The Light will guide me, I do not need to be worried," he re-assured himself. Then suddenly, his thoughts were interrupted by sounds of a battle. He quickly rushed to the direction of the noises, and from beneath the long grasses, he saw that a few cannibals were fighting with a giant human and some skeletons, which was pretty strange of a sight.

The warrior then recognized the human to be a race from the north, known as the barbarians. He knew that they fight for the light, so he was relieved to see an ally.

The bold barbarian grabbed his huge wooden hammer as the last of the skeletons were shattered to the ground. With a great swing, the giant warrior sandwiched a cannibal's head against a thick tree trunk. And with another quick movement, he dug the long handle of his weapon straight down into the other cannibal's skull, creating a sickening crush.

The barbarian put his great hammer back into his backpack, and appeared to search for something in there. Whatever it was, he didn't find it. He sighed and pulled some darts off of his right arm. The paladin could see that he was in need of healing, so he stepped forward to lend a hand. He walked out of the shadows and introduced himself.

"I'm Skovos, paladin of Zakarum. Let me help you with that wound," he said. Then, he held out his sword and shot a blue bolt at the poisonous wound, which was magically healed.

"Thank you, holy paladin. I'm Bear's Crotch, barbarian of the Bear tribe, but you can call me BC. I thank you for the healing. I had been sent here by my tribe to rid the evil that plagues these lands. Oh, by the way, this is my companion," he announced confidently, and pointed towards the shadows. Out came a dark figure surrounded by an enchantment of bones, and the paladin quickly recognized him to be a necromancer. He was alert by instinct, and pointed his sword angrily at the dark mage.

"Worker of the dark, I have been sent here by my holy church to perish your kind! Die by the sword of light!" cried the brave knight. With that, he began hacking the hard bones that protected his opponent.

"Stop! He is my friend, and he fights for the goodness of the world!"

"Foolish warrior," the necromancer said, his voice strong and enigmatic, quite different from others of his kind. "Your church and its members had already been corrupted by hate long time ago. And even though that the Lord of Hatred had been perished from this realm, the remaining worshippers of Zakarum still carry the agony with which they had been infested. Don't listen to their orders anymore, because you will be doing evil's work."

"How dare you insult my church and my religion?!" he responded with rage. Finally, he destroyed the swirling bones and took a swing at the mage. It dug through the weak metal armor and into the pale flesh. Blood started to drip the ground.

"I didn't want a fight, but since you asked..." he replied with a hint of anger. The pool of blood that had formed on the grass began to groan. It grew to a bloody creature a little bigger than the paladin, who knew it to be his opponent's creation. So, he put his head down and charged the blood giant, who skillfully countered the attack by knocking away the knight's shield.

"The shield is the symbol of the paladin's faith," the necromancer quoted arrogantly. And the angry paladin tried to retrieve his faith, only to be chilled by the true powers of darkness.

The summoning had tumbled to the ground into a pool of blood. And the metal shield melted and formed a bold metal giant covered with thorns.

"But what does one do, when one's faith has turned against him?" the mage finished and eyed his newly created golem, who responded by knocking away the knight's weapon. 

The barbarian lightly pushed the top of his hammer against the golem's chest. The golem didn't feel his master's hate towards this man, so it didn't attack him.

"Stop, there is no reason for death. He is a lone warrior that had probably got separated from the band of paladins that passed us earlier on. We will escort him to the town of Lut Golein, where the rest of the knights headed, and we won't have to see him again after that," he soothed gently with his deep voice, like the gentle winds of this forest, carrying his companion's wrath away.

"Of course you are right, BC. But Lut Golein is pretty damn far," he replied with sudden calmness. All of a sudden, he gestured his hand and turned the paladin's sword into a golem, and the previous one fell to the ground into a pile of metal scraps. The barbarian eyed him questioningly. 

"Insurance in case of betrayal."

"Holy knights don't know betrayal."

"Holy knights don't know anything."

"How dare…"

"Quiet foolish mortal, or my master will kill you," a skeleton mage interrupted. The barbarian smirked, and led the way to the town of Lut Golein.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Diablo. Simple as that. This is just for fun. No profit.

Note: Thanks for the reviews! Tell me what you think of this chapter. Reviews were greatly appreciated! (I didn't know Skovos was an island. But I intentionally misspelled the necro's name, and I'm sure that is an island. J)

Chapter 2- Dusty Pearl, Lut Golein

"A jug of your finest wine and bring me some maggot pie!" the barbarian roared cheerfully to the woman known as Atma. "I can finally eat!"

"The wine we can do, but the pie... the sand maggots have mutated and their eggs have turned poisonous. We don't serve that here anymore, and haven't for a long time," the bar owner replied. "Must've been away for too long, huh?"

"Yeah, yeah, then get me some pork," the big warrior replied, still in his cheerful mood. He leaned over to his companions the paladin and the necromancer, and asked them what they wanted.

"Come on, dinner's on me! I just sold that weird red mace I found, and it earned me quite a lot!" he roared again. Almost everyone in the bar was looking at the three travelers, partly because the barbarian shook desks with his words, and partly because they found the strange sight of necromancer and paladin sitting side by side amusing.

"I'll have some baked fish, please" the knight called politely to the storeowner, who left silently.

"Enjoy your food BC, I am heading to the blacksmith to sell off my merchandise."

"Sure thing, Phil," the barbarian said. The dark mage left the bar, and many people signed in relief. The beefy warrior shuffled his seat next to the paladin's.

"You know, I don't really know why everyone's so afraid of Phil. I mean, he's a nice guy deep down inside, and his clothing isn't all that scary compared to the other necros I've seen. For crying out loud, he doesn't even carry a weapon with him!"

"Yeah, I have noticed that. Other necros I have slain usually carry a dagger, scythe or some sort of wand. I think it's his calm that scares me, unlike others you know, who flaunt their powers. By the way, his name is Phil? That's unusual for a mage," the paladin said, suddenly interested by the gossip. Then their food came, but they continued to talk while eating, something the knight had been taught against.

"His full name is Philiphos," he informed. Suddenly, he arched his head back and belched as if he was performing a warcry. The paladin couldn't help but laugh. In the process, he had snorted out a piece of his food out of his nose, which he nervously scrapped off to the ground.

"And you should take back that part about the calm," he said, poking his head closer in so nobody else could hear them. "He seems usually calm, but after traveling with him for almost two years, I have seen his wrath. And if you are ever so unfortunate to see it, it's both a horrible and fascinating sight. He blindly breaks into a frenzy and his rage is comparable to the Lord of Hatred's, if not greater."

"I agree," a ghastly voice said. They just noticed a skeleton mage sitting beside Skovos and listening over to their little gossip. BC signed, and knew the mage would tell his master about their talk behind his back.

"Skovos, please kindly give him a whack on the head. You know, Phil doesn't like people talking behind his back, and his mage is going to tell him about our talk."

"You mean, kill him? Won't the necromancer become angered?" he asked doubtfully.

"Just do it, I have done it many times before. He can just raise another one afterwards."

"Okay," the knight answered and gave the skeleton a backhand swing. It chipped off the cheekbone of the mage, and it finally realised what the two were trying to do. It quickly rushed out of the bar to tell his master. BC signed at the knight's pitiful attempt. 

He quickly got out of his seat and realized he couldn't possibly catch him in time.

(Leap Attack!)

The barbarian leaped into the air and arched back. When he landed in front of the fleeing skeleton, he brought down both fists on the skull and shattered the undead mage into a pile of bones.

"Oh baby!" he cried in success, and winked at his paladin friend back at the bar.

"What's to oh baby about?" asked Philiphos distractedly, counting his gold. "And next time ask before using my minions as target practice."

"Sure thing," BC replied nervously. His _oh baby had caught the attention of a tall amazon woman from a distance, who had quickly rushed towards the two warriors._

"It is really you, crotch boy!" she said, and gave him a hard friendly slap on the back. Seeing a beautiful lady greeting his friends, the curious paladin rushed out, and ended up paying for their meal after all.

"Skovos!" BC greeted cheerfully, totally forgetting about the meal he was going to pay for. He introduced his old friend to the curious knight, while the necromancer and her broke into a long hug. "This is Carrie, the most skilled amazon I had ever met! And also Phil's lady."

The amazon gave the mage a quick kiss. The paladin, along with some nearby fat housewives, couldn't believe what was happening. How could a dreaded, old mage with pale, loose skin be loved by anyone, particularly a young fine lady?


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3- Unexpected news (This story DOES go somewhere)

Speed dragged the caravan's exhausted wheels down the rocky road for almost eternity, and vibration shook the wooden transport violently. Sleep came to some people, such as the BC. Others, like the amazon, often stared at the wheels to make sure it wasn't going to pop off.

The caravan finally reached a full stop at the large Rogue Encampment. The camp had developed into a large stronghold since the fall of the Evil Andariel. The grand steel gates opened slowly to welcome the caravan.

"Welcome back Warriv, I trust that you have brought the arrows from Fara like I requested?" greeted the serious Rogue leader with a hint of excitement.

"Of course, I have also brought over some rare merchandise that you might be interested in," he replied with a matching serious tone. The passengers had stepped off the caravan one by one.

Many things have changed since their last visit- the population has increased immensely, the cheap dirt road had been replaced with neatly carved stones as a result, and the cloth tents had grown to sturdy wooden cabins. The town center was no longer a mere fire pit, but a giant steel statue of three rogues, posing heroically, while lively flames licked at their boots.

The three companions rested on the heavy log by the statue. Then, a nervous knight walked to join them.

"Why did you follow us, Skovos of the Zakuram?" asked the tired but annoyed dark mage.

"He couldn't find his paladin companions back in Lut Golein, and he was convinced that they headed here. So I told him to follow us," explained the barbarian. "He will not give you any more trouble now, once he re-units with his group."

"Okay, he's leaving us anyway," Phil said. "Carrie, after we are done trading our goods, let's go slay the remaining demons of this land."

"Sure, I haven't hunted in a long time!"

"I wouldn't do that if I were you!" warned an old man nearby. "Since the great fall of Diablo, hell's minions have stirred with terror. They have been sent to the mortal realm to eliminate all human towns that were still intact, in search for the great hero. The remaining Great Evil Belial, had decended into these lands already. If the Prophecy of Lies is correct, Belial brings with him, the massive horned deaths that he used to banish the three great evils from hell. All that we can do now is to pray for the hero's return, for Belial will destroy everything in his path!"

"Now that sounds like one hell of a fight!" cried Phil excitedly.

"I can hardly wait!" the amazon and the barbarian cheered together, and the three had a hearty laugh.

"How can you be so calm, when the destruction of man is near?" the wise old man questioned. Skovos the paladin listened with great interest.

"How about we lure him here somehow, and fight him sooner!" Phil suggested, ignoring the old man.

"That would be good, but how?"

"I already have an insane, yet great idea!" cried Phil excitedly.

"As the last of the Horadrim, I will not allow you to bring forth the deaths of these people around us!" the old mage yelled bravely. Now almost everyone, including the famous Kashya and Akara, listened with curiosity, and fear.

"Say no more, Cain. Help us prepare for our trip, and wish us luck," the necro said calmly. He revealed his mysterious glowing necklace. Attached to the delicate leather string was a single feather, that didn't belong to no chicken either. It was transparent, and it emitted a faint blue light that beat a pulse. "Have you forgotten your source of fame already, old fart?"

The wise Deckard Cain had finally realised who he was really talking to. The scent of this man displayed righteousness, as he remembered. It also had that faint hint of pure hatred that only he could taste, and it seemed to choke and clog his lungs.

Surprised but relieved, he nodded and quickly disappeared into the tavern. Maybe there was hope after all.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4- Another drink

Chapter 4- Another drink

Phil and BC went for a drink at the new bar, while Carrie went to the blacksmith to get her equipment repaired. They assumed that the paladin had met his group of holy knights and left.

The bar was loud with conversation. A man sat in the corner, drumming away on the guitar strings. The tune was familiar to the wanderers, and Phil stopped in his tracks to concentrate and listen to the sorrowful music.

The painful memories in his mind were given breath again. These were the faint but twisted images of a lonely orphan, being raised as a paladin in the strictest school of the Zakarum. Pictures of him being betrayed by his most trusted friends that he had called family, and memories of being almost killed by the most inspiring and respected person in his life, his great mentor.

Oh yes, the memories came back, like the howling wind, taking away a little of his sanely every time it came by. After fleeing his home and losing his friends to the forces of the dark, he had sworn never to channel the energies of the light ever again. After having his first taste of the bitterness of betrayal, his confusion evolved into rage and loneliness. He learned to harness his energies from all the darkness and horror that he had been taught to fight.

But one day, he met Carrie, and part of his rage was devoured by love. Through the decades they had spent together, they fought side by side, and always for the goodness of the world.

Now, any stranger would shiver at the sight of Phil. No-one, except for his two friends, knew the agony that hid beneath the dark cloak. Or the muscular might, fueled by forever rage that separated him from other weak and pale necromancers. Ironically, everyone would have respected the righteous paladin blood which runs through his being, if only they knew.

The price of honour for defeating Diablo and Mephisto was not cheap. The terror that had followed in every step of the pursue was not meant for an average warrior's mind, including the mind of the "failure", who had himself deep in Diablo's control. But for Philiphos, it was quite different.

He had total understanding of the meaning of life and death. Because of this, he wasn't afraid of death when it comes to take him away.

And what about the horror that had trailed him and had watched him behind his back during his great journey? He hadn't learned to ignore it, because that was only a temporarily solution. He had learned to...

embrace it.

--

Woo! An update! I appreciate the replies, but I hadn't checked my mail for a long time, so sorry if I updated a bit late. If you are still with this story, reply and review!!!


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5- Taunt

Chapter 5- Taunt

"Are you sure that this _ridiculous idea would actually work?" BC asked._

"Not 100% sure, but it's worth a try."

"It's so stupid, yet it's kind of funny," the amazon giggled.

"It wouldn't be so funny if it was you standing here," the barbarian talked back with a little embarrassment. "Man, I'm going to get one hell of a throat-ache after this."

Philiphos' plan to lure Belial was to channel his and Carrie's powers into BC and have him taunt (warcry) Belial from the safety of the town. By doing this, they would amplify the overall effectiveness of the barbarian's warcries, which were already as good as they got. 

BC was a master in the arts of the barbarian, or else Philiphos would have easily overlooked him. It took a lot to win the trust and friendship of the skilled necromancer, and BC enjoyed traveling with him more than anything else, because he could probably win the throne of the Barbarian Warlord of his tribe any day. But he preferred the forever-thrilling life of a traveling hero.

Everyone in town had heard of the Prophecy now and was afraid for their lives. They had learned about the plan, and have gathered around the three warriors that were going to save their lives.

But they weren't sure if they could depend their lives on a person who could come up with such a retarded plan. Akara and Kashya, afraid of the possible fall of the Sisters of the Sightless Eye, had ordered every available rogue to help these heroes in their up-coming battle. Phil had thanked them deeply, but had stressed on how much of a nuisance and waste of life this reinforcement would be. But the rogue leaders wouldn't have it, and Phil and his party were stuck with the responsibility of these inevitable deaths.

And there were off!

The travelers worked with insane speed that didn't seem humanly possible. Enigmatic, yet beautiful lights sparkled in all different kinds of colours and patterns. The crowd could hear the faint, but sweet voice of the amazon humming a magical tune that gave her special powers.

They worked like machines, and never stopping for a thought or a break until their task was completed. The previously embarrassed barbarian, now broke into a frenzy of taunts. His mind was blank, and his voice rung unbelievably loud in the ears of his audience. And that evening, all that ever happened were the citizens getting major head-aches, and of course:

(Lvl 80 Taunt!)

(Lvl 80 Taunt!)

(Lvl 80 Taunt!)

(Lvl 80 Taunt!)

(Lvl 80 Taunt!)

(Lvl 80 Taunt!)

***

That same night, almost everyone met in the bar for, what might be, their final drink. They cheered on their three warriors and wished them luck. Everyone was having a good time, while Cain gave more background information on the Prophecy.

"According to the book of Prophecy, the time when Belial would come across this town would be around four o'clock in the morning," the wise man briefed them. "Now, the horned death and cow demons that Belial brings with him could probably match the power of Diablo and Mephisto combined. This will not be a fair or easy fight, and you might not return with the same number of companions that accompanied you, I'm afraid."

"I know we will not fail to put the Lord of Lies to rest. By the way, I'm curious about the outcome the Prophecy," said Phil.

"I'm afraid I never got the chance to read the last few chapters of the book," Cain informed, and took a big gulp of his fine wine.

"Okay, let's prepare our equipment and stock up on potions. We will have to fend off the demons on our way to the designated location also," Phil commanded. His mind was blurred with mixed emotions, and the lonely piano tune from the pianist didn't help either.

_Author's note: _This tale, as I mentioned, was finished long time ago, so it probably isn't that great. I can easily post all the chapters up, but I have lost a lot of hope on this story because of the lack of replies. If you are still interested in this story, just reply to get more chapters! I don't really care, cuz I have another story going on. It's very similar to this one. I guess it's my attempt to improve this one and still make the result unique. So go check it out! It's Fantastical Adventure: Story of the Druid Guardian!


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